Arabic Humanities in Their Own Terms: Festschrift for Wolfhart Heinrichs, ed.
Beatrice Gruendler and Michael Cooperson, Brill, 2008, pp. 176-273.
KHUBA
THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY ARABIC ORATION
Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago
KHUBA
177
art of the spoken wordthe eloquently, metaphorically, rhythmically, appositely spoken word. It is well known that a major genre of
this oral tradition was poetry; it is less well known that the primary
prose form of that art was the khuba, or oration.
The khuba was a crucial piece of the Arabic literary landscape,
and a key component of political and spiritual leadership. In both the
pre-Islamic and early Islamic phases of Arabian life, it had significant political, social, and religious functions. It roused warriors to
battle, legislated on civic and criminal matters, raised awareness of
the nearness of death and the importance of leading a pious life,
called to the new religion of Islam, and even formed part of its ritual
worship. For a long time, it was the only prose genre in existence; it
included both speeches and sermons, and partially subsumed proverbs (amthl)2 and the rhymed pronouncements of the soothsayers
(saj al-kuhhn). Written epistles and treaties, although existent,
came a distant second in terms of volume, and did not pretend to
high style. The khuba texts extant in the medieval Arabic sources
form some of the most beautiful and powerful expressions of the
Arabic literary canon.
Moreover, the early khuba had enormous influence on subsequent
artistic prose. Indeed, the Quran itself contained many of the stylistic
features of the oration, such as parallelism, vivid imagery, direct address, rhyme, and assonance. For over a century, alongside the
Quranwithout its divine authority, certainly, but with a great deal
of spiritual and temporal cloutthe khuba reigned supreme as the
preeminent prose genre of the Arabic literary corpus. Towards the end
of the Umayyad period, a vibrant new genre of written epistolary
prose, called the risla, emerged.3 The risla was greatly influenced
by Persian and Greek administrative writings, but it was also largely
shaped by the form, themes, and style of the Arabic khuba.4 The
2 Proverbs, sometimes derived from poems, were at other times single sentences
wrested from a khuba or a khuba-like speech.
3 On the transition of Arabic culture from oral to written, see Toorawa 2005, 34;
Schoeler 2006.
4 One indication of the influence of oratory on chancery prose is the direction
given by writers of important chancery manuals to secretaries, to study and memorize khubas: Ab Hill (d. after 395/1005), Kitb al-inatayn, 64; al-Qalqashand
(d. 821/1418), ub al-ash, 1:210, quoting Ab Jafar al-Nas (d. 338/950) and
Ab Hill.
178
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
179
180
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
khuba material clearly exists, and even the possibly forged texts conform, by and large, to earlier conventions. Thus, a collective study
based on the corpus of khuba materials as a whole rather than on single, individual texts, allows for a meaningful assessment of the genre.
Using a broad sampling of early khuba texts, this paper examines
the evolution of its types and characteristics, focusing on the two
centuries of the pre-Islamic, early Islamic, and Umayyad periods; the
paper makes a brief foray into the subsequent Abbasid period, when
the term came to denote solely the ritual sermon delivered with the
prayer on Friday and the two Eids. Sections I, II, and III of the study
present respectively a prefatory discussion of the denotations of the
terms khuba and khaba, our sources for the early khuba, and the
issues of oral transmission and authenticity. Section IV traces the development of the various types and subtypes of political, religiopolitical, religio-ethical, legislative, and civic khubas. Section V describes the khubas characteristics, analyzing its structure and setting, as well as its literary traits. Finally, the Appendix presents the
texts and translations of some of the most famous khubas of preIslam and early Islam, with brief comments pointing out the categories and attributes isolated earlier.
I. Denotations of the Terms khuba and khaba
The early Arabic khuba (pl. khuab17) may be defined as an official
discourse (for various purposes and containing diverse themes)
which was extemporaneously composed and orally delivered in formal language to a large, live public audience, with the oratorwith
some exceptionsstanding on a high place (later, the pulpit) and facing the audience. These characteristics may be considered prerequisites for classification as khuba (historical details follow in Section
IV).
The term oration appears to be the best available one-word English equivalent for the Arabic term khuba. According to the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED), the oration is a formal discourse delivered in elevated and dignified language, especially one given on a
KHUBA
181
182
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
183
184
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
185
6/1257 or 8) contains more khubas by Al and other early personages. Other extant collections include al-Q al-Qus (d.
454/1062) Dustr malim al-ikam wa-mathr al-shiyam min
kalm amr al-muminn Al ibn Ab lib; and al-Q Ab l-Fat
al-mids (d. 550/1155) Ghurar al-ikam wa-durar al-kalim.31
Literary anthologies, such as Ibn Ab hir ayfrs (d. 280/893)
Balght al-nis, Ibn Abd Rabbihs (d. 328/940) al-Iqd al-fard,
the two Aml works of al-Ql (d. 356/967) and al-Sharf alMurta (d. 436/1044), Ab al-Faraj al-Ifahns (d. ca. 363/972)
Aghn, Ibn Qutaybas (d. 276/889) Uyn al-akhbr32 and alMarif, and al-Mubarrads (d. 285 or 6/ 898 or 9) al-Kmil. Ab
Ubayd al-Qsim b. Sallms (d. 224/838) early anthology of orations of the prophets, al-Khuab wa-l-mawi, is an interesting
source, although the Arabic khubas attributed therein to Abraham
and Moses are either apocryphal, or translations.
Historical texts, such as the works of al-Wqid (d. 207/823), Nar
b. Muzim al-Minqar (d. 212/827), Ibn Hishm (d. 218/833), Ibn
Sad (d. 230/845), pseudo-Ibn Qutayba, al-Baldhur (d. 279/892),
Ibn Atham al-Kf (fl. 2nd-3rd/8th-9th c.), al-abar (d. 314/923),
al-Masd (d. 345/956), al-Q al-Numn (d. 363/974), and Ibn
al-Athr (d. 650/1233).
Chancery manuals, such as al-Qalqashands (d. 821/1418) ub
al-ash f inat al-insh, Isq b. Ibrhm al-Ktibs (d. after
335/946) al-Burhn f wujh al-bayn, and Ab Jafar al-Nass
(d. 338/950) Umdat al-ktib.
Critical works, such as al-Bqillns (d. 403/1013) Ijz al-Qurn
and Ab Hill al-Askars (d. after 395/1005) Kitb al-inatayn.
Proverb collections, such as Ab Hills Jamharat amthl al-arab,
and al-Maydns (d. 518/1124) Majma al-amthl.
Jurisprudential (fiqh) works and adth compilations yield various
kinds of information on the khuba in their sections on the Friday
and Eid prayers, such as Mliks (d. 179/795, Sunn Mlik) alMuwaa, al-Kulayns (d. 329/941, Twelver Sh), al-Kf, and alQ al-Numns (Fatimid-Isml) Daim al-Islm.
31 22 compilations of Als khubas and rasil compiled before the Nahj albalgha (some extant, some lost) are listed in Abd al-Zahr 1975, 1:51-86.
32 See Marshall 1972, 91-110, in which he translates and briefly describes a selection of the orations in Ibn Qutaybas Uyn al-akhbr.
186
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
An adab al-khab treatise from later medieval times by Ibn alAr al-Dimashq (d. 724/1324) offers details of the requirements
for an official ritual preacher and his khuba.
Most of the extant khuba texts are fragmentary, probably because of
their oral transmission; of the few intact ones, some, or even most,
may have been compiled from earlier fragments. Also, most of our
extant texts are rather shortperhaps due to their fragmentary nature, or because the early orations were, indeed, short (a prophetic
adth praises brevity in the khuba).33 However, we do have some
texts and reports of longer orations. A very long khuba is attributed
to Muammad himselfhe is said to have begun preaching immediately after the ritual prayer of late afternoon, and to have ended three
to four hours later at the time of the sunset prayer.34 Two long
khubas named al-Ashb (Phantasmic Beings) and al-Qia (The
Striker or Thirst-Allayer) are attributed to Al.35 The Mutazilite
theologian Wil b. A reportedly delivered long khubas.36
There are several modern anthologies of early khubas. These anthologies include Amad Zak afwats three-volume Jamharat
khuab al-arab, which deals with the pre-Islamic and early Islamic,
Umayyad, and early Abbasid periods. Other scholars have published
collected volumes of the khubas of Muammad,37 Ab Bakr (d.
13/634),38 Umar (23/644),39 and numerous tomes of khubas attributed to Al.40 They have also published khuba anthologies for the
early caliphs,41 the collected khubas of al-usayn b. Al (d. 61/
680),42 and his great-grandson Jafar al-diq (d. 148/765).43
KHUBA
187
III. Authenticity
Since the early Arabic khubas were initially transmitted orally, none
can be definitively authenticated, nor can individual lines or words.
Yet, given the large corpus of multiply transmitted and distinctly archaic orations extant, the body of early khuba material, as a whole,
gives an approximate picture of the typology and characteristics of
the genre in its early stages. The oral transmission took place over
over two to four generations. A few khubas were written prior to delivery;44 others may have been recorded in writing soon after being
delivered.45 However, as far as we can tell, the majority were recorded in the late Umayyad and early Abbasid periods, a hundred to
a hundred and fifty years after their original delivery, after the proliferation of paper and the (relative) spread of literacy.46 This long
period of oral transmission raises questions about the reliability of
the extant materials, questions which will probably never be fully
answered. Later individuals certainly had incentives to fabricate
khubas and attribute them to their predecessors. Some put words in
the mouths of religious leaders like Muammad (d. 11/632) or Al
(d. 40/660) to bolster sectarian and other views.47
Nevertheless, we have ample evidence to suggest that the Arabs
consciously made an effort to memorize and transmit those khubasor, more accurately, those parts of a khubathat they found
44 Cf. some records in the sources, from varying periods in early Islamic times,
of orators writing a khuba prior to delivery (a systematic search would probably
yield many more): 1) Ibn Ab al-add (d. 655/1257, Shar Nahj al-balgha, 2:88)
recounts that in the wake of the attack on Anbr, Al b. Ab lib wanted to encourage the Kfans to fight Muwiya, but he was unwell and unable to deliver a speech,
so he wrote a khuba, gave the kitb (written text) to his mawl Sad, and had him
read it out aloud to the people. 2) We can extrapolate that some early khabs wrote
their khubas in advance, from al-Jis (al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn, 1:124) comments
lauding orators who did not write down their khubas beforehand: he thus cited
verses by Bashshr praising Wil b. A for never writing down his khubas beforehand; he also stated (ibid., 1:331) that Dd b. Al b. Abdallh b. Abbs always delivered extemporaneous orations, that he never ever wrote down a khuba
ahead of time. 3) Verses by Ab Mismr al-Ukl (ibid., 1:133) mention orators
writing down khubas ahead of time.
45 On Arabic writing in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, see Abbott 1967, 563; Pederson 1984, 3-11.
46 On oral transmission in early Islam, see Vajda 1983; Schoeler 2006.
47 On the phenomenon of attributing apocryphal material to founding figures, see
Mourad 2006.
188
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
189
53 Cf. discussions of the types of the early khuba in some of the Arabic monographs on the subject, such as al-Nu 1963, 145-260; al-w 1970, 29-52; al-f
1972, 62-119; Shalab 1983, 77-118.
190
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
the 8th through the 10th centuries C.E. (2nd-4th c. H.),54 none of the
works containing the famous speeches of the Greeks appear to have
been translated: not the speeches of Demosthenes and other Attic
orators, nor Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian war, nor the
epics of Homer. To be sure, Aristotles theoretical work on oratory,
the Rhetoric, was rendered into Arabic by an anonymous translator
in the early part of the 3rd/9th c.55 But, although this bookalong
with his other logical and ethical worksgreatly influenced Islamic
philosophy,56 it had little impact on Arabic literature, and none on the
practice or theory of the khuba.
As is well known to classicists, the Greek and Latin rhetorical
corpus is generally viewed through the lens of Aristotles division of
oratory into the categories of forensic (court), epideictic (exhibition),
and deliberative (political assembly) oratory, dealing respectively
with past, present, and future events, in which the syllogism played a
critical role.57 In contrast, in the early Arabic khuba tradition, the forensic and epideictic oration is completely missing. However, the
category that Aristotle had termed deliberative oratory developed
without reference to Aristotlein a large number of original directions. In addition, several completely new and primarily ritualistic
categories unknown to the Greeks emerged.
The major types of the early Arabic khuba are the political and religio-political speech (which include the Islamic ritual sermon delivered on Friday and the two annual Eid days), the pre-Islamic soothsayers utterance, the religious sermon of pious counsel (khuba of
wa), and the civic category of the verbal marriage contract. Details
of their development and particulars of their subtypes follow.
54 For information on the Graeco-Arabic translation movement and the impact of
Greek philosophical and ethical thought on Islam, see Rosenthal 1965; Gutas 1998.
55 Aristotle, al-Khaba: al-tarjama al-arabiyya al-qadma. The work was
probably translated before the movements best-known translator, unayn b. Isq,
arrived on the scene. In the fourth/tenth century, the bibliographer Ibn al-Nadm
stated that he had seen a 100-page copy of the translation, and he mentioned Isq
and Ibrhm b. Abdallh as possible translators (al-Fihrist, 349)cf. details in alBadaws introduction to al-Khaba, z.
56 Aristotles Rhetoric was commented on, as mentioned earlier, by al-Frb, alKhaba, and Ibn Sn (d. 428/1037), Kitb al-Majm aw al-ikma al-ariyya f
man kitb rirq, and abridged by Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198), Talkh al-Khaba.
57 Aristotle, Rhetoric, I.3, 1-4. For an overview of Greek, Roman, and European
rhetoric, see Russell 1996, Winterbottom 1996, Herrick 2001.
191
KHUBA
subtypes
delivered by
1. political
speech
Pre-Islamic
period
2. soothsayers
utterance
(saj alkuhhn)
a. interpretation of dreams
b. divination of future events
c. adjudication
3. religious
sermon of
pious counsel
(khuba
of wa)
soothsayer
4. marriage
tamd &
contract
5. religiopolitical
speech
(including
ritual sermon)
Islamic
a. ritual sermon
FridayEids (al-Fir, alA)
[drought relief (istisq)
eclipse (kusf)]
b. legislative speech (laying
down laws)
c. speech delivered at various
religious occasions
d. accession and policy speech
e. battle oration
f. sectarian sermon
g. elite womens speech
(in special circumstances)
a. (i) Prophet
Muammad,
(ii) caliph, (iii) governor, (iv) official
preacher or khab
(Abbasid period ff.)
b. Prophet Muammad
c. Prophet Muammad
d. (i) caliph, (ii) governor
e. (i) caliph, (ii) commanders, (iii) rebellion leader
f. sectarian leader
g. noblewoman
192
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
193
themselves a fertile environment for producing rousing military orations, such as the said War of Bass and the famous Battle of Dh Qr
(late 6th or early 7th c. C.E.) The speech of Hni b. Qubaya during
the latter battle inciting the Shaybn to fight is a prime example.64
Other settings for the political speech were struggles over leadership (munfara). These orations were couched in the framework of
proving oneself nobler and abler than ones opponent. Public debates
on this issue survive in the sources, such as the debate between two
paternal cousins of the Ban mir over the leadership of their
tribe.65 Judgments of these munfaras are also in the form of public
speeches, such as the judgment of Harim b. Quba al-Fazr arbitrating between the same mirite cousins, equating them in nobility.
The munfara judgements were sometimes pronounced by a khin,
such as the pronouncement of the Khuz khin favoring Hshim (d.
524 C.E.) over Umayya;66 they were also delivered by other persons
of consequence, such as the same Hshim judging between the tribes
of Quraysh and Khuza.67
A subtype of political orations is the set of speeches addressed by
the Lakhmid king of ra, al-Numn b. al-Mundhir (r. ca. 580-602
C.E.) and other Arabian nobles to the Persian monarch Kisr and his
court in praise of the Arabs, to avert the covetous eyes of the Persians
from Arabian lands.68 Even if Kisr did not understand Arabic, as is
most likely the case, we can surmise that given the lively trade, cultural, and political contact between the Arabs and the Persians at the
time, he would have had translators.
Many political speeches were delivered not singly, but in packages, often constituting some kind of eloquence-cum-politics contest,
one speech on the heels of another, often as a response.
The formal, rhymed pronouncements of pagan soothsayers (khin,
pl. kuhhn, fem. pl. kawhin), may be categorized as a second type of
khuba, as they are sometimes delivered to what appears to be a fairly
large public audience. A number of texts in the sources are credited to
female soothsayers, being the only khubas in pre-Islamic times at64
65
194
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
69
70
71
KHUBA
195
196
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
ately left out Muwiyas Qurashite clan of the Ban Umayya).79 The
prominence accorded by the sources to the orations of the Ban
Hshim should be viewed, on the one hand, in the light of their
known leadership role prior to Islam, but also with regard to their
genealogical relevance, first to Muammad, and then to the
Abbasids, and their importance to the Sha in general. This importance could be viewed as a motive for fabrication, or it could have
been the catalyst that prompted the sources to preserve a relatively
greater number of Hshimite orations.
Some testaments (waiyya) may be categorized as a subtype of the
sermon of pious counsel or a quasi-khuba. Khuba anthologists, such
as al-Ra80 in medieval times and afwat81 today, often include
them, perhaps because even if the two appear to be separate genres,
there is significant overlap. For even though most testaments are not
technically khubasin that they are made to a small, private audience usually comprised of the offspring of the legatorsome are delivered to a larger, public audience consisting of several members of
the legators tribe, such as the testaments of Ab lib to the
Quraysh,82 and the testament of Qays b. Zuhayr to the Ban alNamir.83 In many cases, testaments were delivered standing, but on
the death bed, they were presumably delivered sitting or lying down.
A fourth type of pre-Islamic khuba is the marriage contract
(khubat al-nik or al-zawj). This khuba begins with praise of God,
then identifies the bride and groom and mentions the dower. It is delivered by the person officiating at the ceremony. The text of Ab
libs khuba during Muammads marriage to Khadja is one of few
79 afwat 1933 1:442, #341; after al-Qalqashand, ub al-ash; al-Masd,
Murj al-dhahab.
80 In his section on the khubas of Al, al-Ra (Nahj al-balgha, 33) includes
non-khuba material, that he considers similar to the khuba, indicated in the (long)
chapter title: Chapter one, containing selections from the khubas of Amr alMuminn (AS) and his commands; included in this are selections from his words
that are like khubas [uttered] in specific situations (maqmt), particular circumstances (mawqif), and momentous affairs (khub).
81 afwat 1933 1:20-5, #10&11, 1:41-9, #25-30, 1:66-72, #43-5 includes artistic
oral prose, mostly fully musajja, that does not possess the formal features of the
khuba genre, dialogues, debates, disputations, such as were said in the courts of
kings, caliphs, and chieftains He claims (ibid., 1:4) that they enter into the field of
khubas, and are threaded in their necklace.
82 afwat 1933 1:161, #16; after al-ls, Bulgh al-arab.
83 afwat 1933 1:127-9, #81; after Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd al-fard; al-Sharf alMurta, al-Aml; Ibn Nubta, Sar al-uyn.
KHUBA
197
198
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
199
200
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
201
106 On al-asan al-Bars life and legacy, see Mourad 2006. See text of his famous khuba in Appendix.
107 For a study of a Mutazilite khuba, see van Ess 1983.
108 See text in Appendix.
109 See oration by Zayd b. Al in al-Nas, Umdat al-ktib, 400.
110 See text in Appendix.
111 Cf. texts of ishas khuba in afwat 1933 1:207-10, #73, 74; after alQalqashand, ub al-ash; Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd al-fard; al-Nuwayr, Nihyat
al-arab; al-ur, Zahr al-db; al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn. Some khubas by
her also in ayfr, Balght al-nis, 35-53.
112 Cf. text of Zaynabs khuba in Appendix; her biography in Qutbuddin 2005b.
See Umm Kulthms khuba in afwat 1933 2:134-6, #123, after ayfr, Balght
al-nis, 74-7.
202
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
203
point, the khuba of pious counsel lost the appellation khuba and
came to be progressively represented by the term wa (rather than
khuba of wa). The change was not solely in name, for many of
the formal requirements of the khuba, including its official nature,
and the orators standing on a pulpit or high place, also ceased to apply. Side by side with the official ritual khuba, the new sit-down
wa developed as a non-ritual, semi-official branch of preaching,
with its own set of regulations and features, until the Seljuks institutionalized the position of the wi (preacher) at the Nimiyya in
5th/11th century Baghdad.121 Perhaps the most famous wi of the
later Abbasid period was the anbalite Ibn al-Jawz (d. 597/1097),
who preached abundantly to large audiences up to a reported number
of 300,000 (sic) listeners, and also wrote copious model wa texts in
full rhyme.122 A parallel oral genre of storytelling that existed in the
Umayyad period and enjoyed high visibility in late Abbasid times
was promulgated by the q, a popular (as opposed to scholarly)
preacher.123 However, the related verbal noun qaa (and its verb
qaa al) might have been used much earlier to mean a khuba; the
term occurs in abars Tarkh of the year 76H to denote what appears to be an oration by the Khrijite li b. Musarri. To complicate matters still further, abar relates that this qaa [=khuba] was
sent by a man named Qubaya b. Abd al-Ramn to some fellow
Khrijites in written form (kitb).124 The religio-political khuba also
persisted after the end of the Umayyad period, and we see it today in
the speeches of modern Arab leaders who consistently invoke Islam
in the validation of their policies;125 the term khib, rather than
khuba, is generally used for these. Similarly, the marriage khuba
(exceptionally, still called by that name) continues to be pronounced
across the world.
121 Cf. Radtke and Jansen, Wi, in: EI2. A biographical work on preachers is
Ibn al-Jawzs (d. 597/1201) Kitb al-Qu wa-l-mudhakkirn. On the origins of
the institutions of q and wi, see Berkey 2001, 22-35.
122 Ibn al-Jawz divided the sit-down wa into four segments: 1) the khuba, a
stylized tamd, in the sense of the ornate prelude mentioned earlier; 2) the wa or
tadhkr, pious counsel or contemplation of mortality; 3) the qia, or story; and 4)
the khawtim, verses of poetry used to end the session. Cf. Swartz 1999, Hartmann
1987-8; Seidensticker 1998.
123 Cf. Pellat, ss, in: EI2.
124 al-abar, Tarkh, 6:216 (year 76H), The Marwnid Restoration, 22:33. I
thank Professor Rowson for bringing this denotation to my notice.
125 Cf. collected speeches of the late President Anwar Sadat of Egypt 1971.
204
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
In this way, the manifold types of religious, political, religiopolitical, and civic orations developed through the pre-Islamic and
early Islamic eras. Some forms died out, others changed or fused,
and new forms emerged, until, from the Abbasid period forward, a
new nomenclature evolved.
V. Characteristics:
Structure, Setting, and Style
There was a noticeable degree of evolution in the structure, setting,
and style of the oration, as generation after generation of orators exhibited new sensibilities of literary taste, as well as changing social,
religious, and political mores. Key impulses to change were the coming of the new religion of Islam, the shifting political climate from a
tribal to an imperial setting, and most significantly, the gradual transformation of the literary culture from a primarily oral to a primarily
written one. While some features such as direct address and public
audience persisted, others, such as spontaneous improvisation, the
use of Qurnic and poetic quotations, and the format of the praise introduction, were modified.
Data about the characteristics of the oration have to be gleaned
from here and there. In contrast to their expositions on poetry126 and
chancery prose, medieval Arabic literary critics did not present a systematic, normative expos of oratory. However, their works contain
comments pertinent to the subject. Al-Jis long exposition in the
Bayn wa-l-tabyn, in his typically rambling style, is probably the
fullest.127 Ibn Abd Rabbih in his anthology al-Iqd al-fard,128 and
Isq b. Ibrhm, in his chancery manual al-Burhn f wujh albayn,129 also offer brief analytical remarks. Morever, the khuba
texts themselves, along with adjacent anecdotes and comments, yield
relevant information, both about expectations from an orator, and the
standard features of a khuba.
126
127
128
205
KHUBA
Setting
Style
1. Large public
audience.
2. Orally delivered.
3. Delivered
standing from
high ground,
or back of
camel (except
marriage
khuba); facing the audience.
4. Official setting.
Muammad
(610-632)
Period
Same as above,
plus:
3. Also delivered
from ad hoc
pulpit (minbar).
Same as above.
Same as above.
Same as above,
plus:
3. Permanent
pulpit in
mosque.
Same as above.
Umayyad
(661-749)
Structure
Fixed format:
1. Probable praise formula (tamd).
2. and after that
phrase (amm bad).
3. Body of khuba.
Early caliphs
(632-661)
206
Later--Abbasid forward
(749 ff.)
Period
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
Structure
Same as above.
Setting
Style
Same as above.
KHUBA
207
208
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
139 Cf. the following records of the Umayyads cursing of Al: al-Muayyad alShrz, al-Majlis al-Muayyadiyya, 3:119, # 227; Yqt, Mujam al-buldn, 3:191
(Sijistn); verse by Ibn Sinn al-Khafj re. Al, in Muammad al-Samw, alala min shuar al-sha, bio. #157, retrieved from the alwaraq internet site: Do
you curse him on the pulpit, when it was by his sword that its planks were erected
for you? } ; al-Q al-Numn, al-Majlis waal-musyart, 176.
140 Cf. khuba of Muwiya II, in al-abari, Tarkh, 5:530; a search of the phrase
on the alwaraq website yields 255 hits in 79 different classical texts, including early
works of Ibn Sad, al-Wqid, and al-Baldhur.
141 Ibn Sad, abaqt, Dhikr al-Adhn.
KHUBA
209
could have used them to emphasize the large size of an audience. But
several reports explain how such a vast audience could indeed be addressed satisfactorily; they point out that a second, loud-voiced person often stood by the orator, or at a short distance from him, and repeated his words to the farther audience. Raba b. Umayya b. Khalaf, a Companion who possessed a resounding voice, stood just below the neck of Muammads camel to thus broadcast the pilgrimage
khuba.142 Reports of similar broadcasting appear in later adth dictation assemblies, in which one or two people would relay the lecture
at intervals to those sitting at a distance from the professor.143
The orator addressed his audience directly. Accordingly, a pleasing physical appearance and a powerful manner of delivery were essential to the effectiveness of his presentation. Medieval critics discussed at some length the expected demeanor of the orator while delivering the khuba, as well as desirable physical traits. Al-Ji, for
example, praised loud voice, wide mouth, and stillness of deportment.144 He deplored trembling, excessive sweating, and missing
teeth,145 and disapproved of coughing and blowing ones nose.146
Isq b. Ibrhm added to the list of disapproved physical expressions playing with ones beard, as well as hemming and hawing.147
The stylized government epistle (risla) that appeared in the late
Umayyad period was composed in writing, but influenced in part by
the oral oration, and adopting some of its functions, it was likewise
delivered orally to a large public audience. So was the appointment
letter (taqld). The oral delivery was probably more efficient in ensuring the message reached the populace, which was still largely
unlettered.
Other than the marriage khuba, which was delivered sitting
down, the orator maintained a physically higher position vis--vis the
audience. He stood on a rise or mound in the ground, on an ad hoc
pulpit facing the audience,148 or sat on the back of a camel (or a horse
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
210
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
in battle).149 Besides enabling the audience to better see and hear the
speaker, this bodily elevation could have symbolized the elevated
status of the orator. Exceptionally while delivering his last khuba,
because of his illness, Muammad sat down on the pulpit.150 According to al-Qalqashand, Muwiya was the first to routinely preach
seated because his fat increased.151 The expression qma khaban (he stood up orating), which is common in the medieval historical and literary sources, indicates that a standing position was typical
for the orator (except when he sat on his mount, of course).152 The
earliest sermons were delivered from the location of the prayerleader/preachers place of prayer (muall) standing in front of and
facing the congregation, without being higher than them, or just
slightly raised. Muammads pulpit in Medina was said to be two or
three steps high, which was increased in the early Umayyad period to
six.153 According to al-Qalqashand, Tamm al-Dr built the first
pulpit for the Prophet, having seen the church pulpits of Syria.154 According to other reports, Marwn (r. 64-5/684-5) may have been the
first to build a permanent pulpit.155
The setting of the khuba was in all cases a formal, official one. As
mentioned earlier, the political and religio-political speech provided
a vehicle for tribal or state policy from the earliest times, and was delivered only on momentous or catastrophic occasions. In the case of
apolitical sermons of pious counsel, the setting was still formal and
serious, and the orator a person of spiritual authority, whether endowed with political weight or not. In all cases, unwritten regulations
regarding silence and close attention of the audience prevailed. The
location of khuba delivery from the pulpit of the mosque also lent it
authority. Another visual symbol of the orators authority was the
149 Cf. al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn, 1:309, 3:7; Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd alfard, 4:117.
150 afwat 1933 1:158, #14; after al-abar, Tarkh; Ibn al-Athr, al-Kmil.
151 al-Qalqashand, ub al-ash, 1:421.
152 Cf. al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn, 2:55.
153 Ibn al-Ar, Adab al-khab, 208.
154 al-Qalqashand, ub al-ash, 1:421.
155 Cf. Wensinck, Khuba, in: EI2. Wensinck does not indicate his primary
source, which is probably Muslims chapter on Going to the prayer-place in the two
Eids in the ai, the source he cites for statements before and after this. Muslims
chapter does contain a reference to Marwn building a pulpit of bricks and clay for
the Eid prayer; although the report admits of the possibility of Marwns being the
first to build a permanent pulpit, the wording is ambiguous.
KHUBA
211
staff or sword upon which he leaned during the khuba. Quss is said
to have been the first to preach leaning on a sword or staff (or
mounted on a camel).156 The pre-Islamic judge supposedly also did
the same. Muammad is said to have leaned on a staff during the
Friday khuba, and on a sword during khubas delivered in battle.157
The custom prevailed in al-Jis time (and later as well), and he
defended it, citing the Qurnic examples of Solomon and Moses.158
The early Arabic khuba displayed five kinds of literary characteristics:159 (1) heavy use of brief, parallel sentences, and repeated
phrases, as well as the sporadic utilization of rhyme (saj)which
yielded a strong rhythm in the khuba and facilitated its comprehension; (2) frequent direct address, emphatic structures, and rhetorical
questionswhich engaged the audience in the speech act; (3) vivid
imagery to portray abstractions as observable, desert phenomena
which gave physical form to theoretical concepts; (4) citation of
Quranic and poetic verseswhich anchored the orators words in
the sacred or semi-sacred literature of pre and early Islam, bestowing
divine or semi-divine authority to them; and (5) employment of dignified yet simple languagewhich rendered the oration formal and
made it understandable to its public audience.
The consistent, almost relentless use of the first feature of parallelism (izdiwj), in which two or more adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences, show identical or near identical syntax, is one of the most conspicuous features of the early Arabic khuba.160 Additionally, parallel
phrases commonly display repetition (takrr) of expressions, which
added emphasis and created a refrain. Parallel clauses were also concise, mostly limited to two to four words. (Non-parallel clauses were
usually brief too, but not as consistently as parallel ones.) Parallelism
156
157
212
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
was often combined with the use of rhyme (saj), paronomasia (jins),
and assonance (muwzana). The critic Ab Hill directs writers of
(rislas and) khubas (sic) to focus on parallelism, and not to force
rhyme.161 An example of parallelism is an oration by Ab lib, in
which, after advising reverence for the Kaba, he explains his reasons
for this counsel in the following three syntactically parallel lines
fainna fh martan li-r-rabb, wa-qiwman li-l-mash, wathabtan li-l-waa. (Indeed, in it is pleasure for the Lord, stability
for livehood, and pacification for violence.)162 In each of these three
phrases we observe a madar in the accusative case, followed by the
particle li, followed by a noun.
Syntactical parallelism was sometimes enhanced by the use of either synonymous or antithetical pairs (ibq). The subcategory of synonymous parallelism can be observed in the many orations with two
or more adjacent phrases of almost the same meaning. This type of
parallelism, in which the second, parallel phrase echoed the first, displayed rhetorical skill. More practically, as mentioned earlier, it also
facilitated aural comprehension. For if the audience did not catch the
first sentence, they would probably grasp the second, and they would
thus be able to follow along. An example is the following set of lines
in an oration by Al b. Ab lib, in which he said, describing a dying
mans last thoughts, yufakkiru fma afn umrah, wa-fma adhhaba
dahrah.163 (He thinks about the things he used up his life [doing],
and squandered his allotted span [achieving].) Synonymous pairs here
are: afn (spent)/adhhaba (squandered); umrah (his life)/dahrah (his
span); note that the two phrases also rhyme in r. The parallel structure can be presented as fma +verb+direct-object+pronoun suffix.
Antithetical parallelism can be observed in the many orations that
have two adjacent phrases of opposite meaning. An example is the
set of opening lines in the oration of al-asan al-Bar, in which he
addressed the son of Adam, al-thawu hhun qall, wa-l-baqu
hunka awl.164 (Residence here is short, and remaining there is
long.) The antithetical pairs here are: hhun (here)/hunka (there);
qall (little, i.e., short)/awl (long); the parallel words either share a
161
162
KHUBA
213
214
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
215
khuba and its derivatives all tapped into the root meaning of direct
address, which was particularly visible at the commencement of each
new thematic section and served as a section marker. The orator addressed the audience in the second person plural, in the vocative
(nid) form. Sometimes he overtly used the particle (arf al-nid);
at other times, he implied it. He usually used the masculine gender in
the plural form, often to encompass both sexes. The address was
sometimes to all people (O people)generic forms of address include (ns and qawm) words: ayyuh al-ns, y ayyuh al-ns,
mashir al-ns;171 at other times, the address was to Muslims
mashir al-muslimn, and servants of God ibda llh;172 at yet
other times, the address was to the people of a particular country or
town, y ahl al-Irq (O people of Iraq!) and y ahl al-Madna
(O people of Medina!).173 Sometimes, a single person could be the
overt addressee, with a larger secondary audience present, particularly in the munfara debates and addresses to kings and caliphs. In
such a circumstance, that single person was addressed by name, as in
Zaynabs address to Yazd, and Fimas address to Ab Bakr.
After the address, the orator often directed the audience to listen,
bend ears and hearts, and pay heed. Examples abound in the orations
of pre-Islamic Mamn al-rith, who said Heed me with your
ears! (arn asmakum),174 and Quss, who said Listen and retain!
(isma wa-),175 as well as Islamic orators such as Muammad, who
said Listen to me, so that I may explain to you! (isma minn
ubayyin lakum).176
The orator would often refer to himself in the first grammatical
person. Alternatively, he used the third grammatical person, often, but
not always, in an oath format. Quss says of himself, Quss swears an
oath by God 177 Other examples are found in several orations by
Muammad, in which he says I bear witness that Muammad is
[Gods] servant and His messenger,178 He who prays [for God
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
Cf. al-Ra, Nahj al-balgha, 157, 222, 357, 385, #79, 100, 174, 186.
Ibid., 139, 315, #65, 155.
Ibid., 144, #70; afwat 1933 2:469.
afwat 1933, 1:39, #22.
Ibid., 1:38, #21.
Ibid., 1:156, #13.
Ibid., 1:38, #21.
Ibid., 1:155, #13.
216
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
to] bless Muammad,179 and By Him, in whose hands Muammads soul lies.180 Umar proclaimed in one speech: Suffice Umar
as a grievous affair, [his] awaiting of the Reckoning181 One of
Als orations has the following reference to himself: By the [God]
in whose hands lies the life of Ab libs son182
The orator also encouraged the audiences involvement with numerous emphatic structures. He applied the nn al-tawkd to the end
of verbs, the lm of emphasis to the beginning of verbs, and the particles inna (Verily!) and al (Lo!) to the beginning of sentences.183
He also interjected into sentences fervent exclamations such as hayht (Far be it!) and qabbaakumu llh (May God disfigure you!).
In an eleven line oration of Al, no less than seven sentences begin
with al (Lo!), the first of which runs Lo! Today is the day for preparing [the horses], and tomorrow is the race.184 In a protracted use
of the emphatic nn and l (combined with some graphic similes and
strong parallelism) al-ajjj threatened his recalcitrant Iraqi subjects,
saying: I shall skin you (la-aluwannakum) as I would skin a rod.
I shall strike you (la-aqraannakum) as I would strike a flint. I shall
wrap you up (la-uibannakum) as I would wrap a salama tree. I shall
beat you (la-aribannakum) as I would beat alien camels.185 Orators
also incorporated strong oaths, such as the following pronouncement
by the female soothsayer Zabr: By the sky-wind blowing, by the
night pitch-dark, by the morning shining forth, by the star nightrising, by the white rain-cloud pouring186
Yet another device the orator used to encourage audience engagement was questioning. Sometimes, the orator asked of the audience real questions and they responded with short answers such as
Yes, by God (allhumma naam). But mostly, the questions were
rhetorical, with obvious answers. Rather than as a means of eliciting
information, they served to emphasize. riq b. Ziyd began his address rousing his army to fight the Andalusians by saying Where is
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
KHUBA
217
218
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
early oratorythe word camel is not used, but rather, its image is
evoked by the use of words specific to it, here the words hind-foot
and nose-rein. Similarly, Fima, in her speech, did not mention the
camel directly, but used the camel-related word al-arq, meaning water in which camels had bathed and urinated.191
In addition to metaphors and similes, the orator also referred to
natural objects and events literally. In sermons of pious counsel, the
orator commonly used images signifying the all-encompassing and all
powerful character of the forces of nature, to remind his desertdwelling nomadic audience of the inevitability of death. Quss, in his
famous khuba of counsel, said: A dark nighta bright daya sky
that has zodiacal signsstars that shineseas [whose waters]
roarmountains firmly anchoredan earth spread outrivers made
to flow The following phrases indicated to the audience his reason
for mentioning these objectsto remind them of the coming of death:
Indeed, there are signs in the sky. There are lessons in the earth.
What is the state of the peoplegoing and never returning?192
These natural images also helped the orator lead his audience to
affirming the necessity of the Creator of the objects. Another preIslamic pious counsel orator, al-Mamn al-rith, said (in full saj)
Indeed, in what you see is a lesson for one who would take heed.
An earth, laid outa sky, elevateda sun, that rises and setsa
youth, dyingan old man, gone Indeed, in [all] this is the clearest
of proofs of the [existence of] the Planner, the Destiny-Writer, the
Creator, the Shaper.193
The oaths used by the soothsayers in the preface of their pronouncements almost exclusively invoked natural objects and phenomena. This is illustrated by the earlier cited pronouncement of the
khina Zabr. Most widespread were auspicious cosmic images of
light and fertility, such as stars and rain, which would evoke feelings
in the audience of bliss and of hopeful expectations for a bright
future.194
The nature imagery of the soothsayers, like all their pronouncements, was rhymed, as were the nature-invoking prefaces ascribed to
Quss and al-Mamn cited above. It is likely that the model of the
191
192
193
194
KHUBA
219
220
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
221
222
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
pared by others. His son, al-Amn, had his teacher, the grammarian alAma, prepare for him ten model sermons.211 At this time, many
preachers began relying partially or completely on model khubas.
VI. Conclusion
The khuba was a preeminent genre of early Arabic literature, with
diverse functions. A reflection of these numerous functions can be
found in the varied types of the oration, and its multiple characteristics. Both the types and features of the oration evolved over time,
with the changing religious, political, and social milieu. The numerous manifestations of the political speech, the religio-political discourse, the sermon of pious counsel, the religious sermon, and the
marriage khuba developed through pre-Islamic and early Islamic
times in step with the changing lifestyle, values, and aesthetics of the
increasingly Islamicate and imperialist Arabic-speaking world. The
terminology was altered too, and in the Abbasid period, the word
khuba came to denote almost exclusively the ritual sermon of Islam.
The literary features of the oration were also modified over time, in
response to the transition from an oral and spontaneous culture to an
increasingly written and stylized aesthetic, and from a tribal, nomadic lifestyle to a progressively urbanized way of life.
The characteristics of the early khubaparticularly its style, but
also its setting and structurereflect its overall literary purpose: convincing the audience of the validity of a course of action, a mode of
behavior, a way of thought, or a type of belief. To this end, the early
oration used logical and emotive persuasion. It combined rational argumentation with the evocation of emotions like anger, shame, fear,
and hope. The khuba evoked these emotions chiefly through literary
techniques such as parallelism and citation of poetry, which, combined
with an orators high status and powerful delivery, rendered an oration
effective. Those orators who succeeded in fully exploiting these features, the ones who took the persuasive characteristics of the oration to
the heights of sophistication, were recorded in history as models of
Arabic eloquence, each a brilliant orator, a khab miqa.
211
223
KHUBA
VII. Appendix
Some Famous Early Khubas
The following are some of the most famous khubas of pre-Islam and
early Islam, full pieces or excerpts. They illustrate the typology and
characteristics of the genre at that time.
As mentioned earlier, there are several versions for most of these
khubas. Since the purpose of their citation here is to provide an
overall sense of the famous khubas rather than a comparison of the
different versions of each, I have noted the sources but not the variants, and have mostly based the transcription of the text and its translation, on afwats anthology.
1. Quss b. Sida al-Iyd
(Bishop of Najran or anf, d. ca. 600 C.E.)212
Type
Features
EA A AA EA .EBA EBAE 8
?A A E @ ` AA
?A AE ? AE B ?y A
E U D A C U : AEB
EA AA AC
224
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
earth spread outrivers made to flow. Indeed, there are signs in the sky. There are lessons in the earth. What is the state of the
peoplegoing and never returning? Have
C E AB >EC 7 D A
E C C
.EB
CAA ~ CC - >AA B D
death,
from which there is no returning
[When] I saw my people towards them
C B CE - AAE E B
AECA AC :- E} BEA
KHUBA
225
C BE AA BEA -AA BEE
doubt
will go213 where the people have gone.
Features
A C: E C A
A AE A C C =A C}
?C AAA E C @B EC CAB
AAEA EB C : CA Z :A
.
213
214
226
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
3. Ab lib
(Muammads uncle and guardian, d. 620 C.E.)218
Type
Features
C:= E EC AA E 7 B{
EA AA >A AA y
. A_{ AA EBEA
B EA E AE 7 C AE A : :
} U A E .E >EA A A
.AAEEB AA C ]C }
~ AA
C U
:A CA: AC EEAE .
KHUBA
227
4a. Muammad
(the Prophet of Islam, d. 11/632)219
Type
Features
A grievous morning! O sons of Abd alMualib. O sons of Abd Manf. If I informed you that horsemen are riding out [to
attack you] from behind the foot of this mountain, would you believe me? [They said: You
h } h AAA A
have not lied to us in our previous experience.] [He said:] Indeed, I am a warner to
you before a harsh chastisement!
4b. Muammad
(the Prophet of Islam, d. 11/632)220
Type
Features
219 al-abar, Tarkh, 2:319; also cited in Raman 1998, 55 (from al-alab, alSra al-alabyiyya; Ibn al-Athr, al-Kmil); and in afwat 1933 1:147, after the same
sources, in a slightly varied form; the web-based search engine alwaraq brings up
nineteen sources for this khuba (with slight variants in each), including alBaldhur, Ansb al-ashrf, Ibn Katir, al-Bidya wa-l-nihya; and Ibn Sad, alabaqt al-kubr.
220 al-Q al-Numn, Daim al-Islm, 1:268-9.
228
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
? ?EA _
C U ?i
Ci| C EC @E A: EA
: AC :
j :
:z BA Bb E: B
} C U BB ? AA} B
AC EC > A_ EA
Ci EC E C CAA
.? AEA
221 Cf. Hava 1986, gives the meaning of shu muwstan as: He gave him a
part of his goods; he was munificent to him.
KHUBA
229
4c. Muammad
(the Prophet of Islam, d. 11/632)222
Type
Features
religio-political early Islamic khuba containing legislative material; address to Quraysh upon the conquest of Mecca in 8/630.
tamd preface; no amm bad, but the marker al (Lo!); parallelism but no saj; short sentences; final direct address; interactivereal questions with audience answering in chorus.
AA AEA AEA 7 A
AE AEB A E A E @AA ` _
AC EA AC _ EA :AA
E: CEA C C| _ DA
A _} A= AA
BE ACEB U CA
AA AA 7 D AAEA
B A EC B A`A Dz
EC AA B " A EC ACB
D EAAC CA >EBB AA
A " 7 A AA
[] [EA :] C a AEA
. EBA
222 afwat 1933 1:154 #11; after al-abar, Tarkh; al-Bqilln, Ijz al-Qurn;
Ibn al-Athr, al-Kmil; Ibn Hishm, al-Sra al-nabawiyya.
230
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
5. Ab Bakr b. Ab Qufa
(1st Sunni caliph, d. 13/634)224
Type
Features
223
224
C
ECB 7 ECEaA
AAA j} 7 D
CEB B ?_B
EB= B E ECE B BE
A 7 :
@EA CAE @ACAn BB C:
BC hEA [ :
AE E U BaA
Qurn 49:13.
afwat 1933 1:181, #37, after al-abar, Tarkh; Ibn Ab al-add, Shar Ibn
Ab al-add.
KHUBA
231
Features
religio-political speech; addressed to Ab Bakr and his assembly of Companions; arguing for Als right to the caliphate and
for her own right to inherit from the Prophet her father the lands
of Fadak; delivered in 11/632.
many Qurnic quotations; archaic vocabulary; strong, rhythmic
parallelism with short sentences and almost no saj; profusion of
camel imagery; some proverbs cited.
?EA EC EC "
C AEB E E "CA
. A =A E A
225 A literal (and negative) explanation of the word shayn is offered by most
Shs. Ibn Ab al-add, a Mutazilite Sunni, interprets the satan metaphorically as
anger. afwat 1933 1:181, n. 2; after Ibn Ab al-add, Shar Nahj al-balgha.
226 ayfr, Balght al-nis, 54-8. Two other, similar, versions of the same
khuba are provided in ibid., 58-66. In those versions, Fima cites the Qurnic
verse And Solomon inherited from David (16:27) in support of her right to inherit
from Muammad. Cf. same khuba with variants in al-Q al-Numn, Shar alakhbr, 3:35-40.
232
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
> C A: _A
C EAC j} CAAEA
A @AB A
EA AE C AAE
E_ A ACE
B_A E r j _C AA
.CEA B
227
228
Qurn 9:128.
Refers to Muammads pairing of Al with himself, when he paired
his Companions in twos as brothers. Cf. al-Q al-Numn, Shar al-akhbr,
1:193-4.
KHUBA
233
CAAA A E AB ACB
" EAA _
?C EA _ ?E AA "
CAA U A j}
C 7 C U EBA =A AA
U 7 C U =A 7
EAA A D 7 A
A E= BA AA = _B
AAA jC C A BC
C:CC j BC AAA
229 Proverb, signifying all sorts of calamities. See its etiology in al-Maydn,
Majma al-amthl, 1:92, #440.
230 Qurn 5:64.
231 Literally, for the essence of God.
234
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
AE EEAA C AAE
232
233
C U " A EA AA
A=A BA B AEA 7
B
A" BE E E E
EC Ai EA EA" "AA Aj}
".| AC C U AB E
KHUBA
235
A AE E AEA _ EE E :
BE @CE U 8C EA AEBAE
A B AB =A C EEC
Cz AB" A AE E BBE
E B A E U E
A BCE} ? B
".EBE A
Ibid., 18:50.
Ibid., 3:85.
I.e., after Muammads death.
Proverb, said of one who pretends one thing when he means another. Cf.
Lane 1863 (r-gh-w).
238 Qurn 5:50.
239 Ibid., 19:27.
236
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
7a. Al b. Ab lib
(Muammads successor according to Shia, 4th Sunni caliph,
d. 40/661)241
Type
Features
BA AAE : : 8
BAa : .A E A~ BAa A
A E : D{ A 8BA A~
:E C CB AAB _ AEA E
^C .EA A D .8A
C .EBA
A CC D BABA @A _ : C
Ibid., 6:67.
al-Ra, Nahj al-balgha, 116, #42; also in al-Minqar, K. iffn; al-Masd,
Murj al-dhahab. Cf. similar khuba in al-Ra, Nahj al-balgha, 93-5, #28; also in
al-Bqilln, Ijz al-Qurn; al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn; al-arrn, Tufat alql; Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd al-fard.
KHUBA
237
A :
. ?
7b. Al b. Ab lib
(Muammads successor according to Shia, 4th Sunni caliph,
d. 40/661)242
Type
Features
religio-political jihd khuba; excerpt from one of Als poignant orations to the people of Kfa, who were unresponsive to
his calls for battle; delivered in the wake of the post-iffn attack on Anbr by Muwiyas commander Sufyn b. Awf alGhmid, who killed and looted with a free hand.
direct address; some saj; exclamations; rhetorical questions;
vivid metaphorical language; short sentences; strong parallelism.
BEB A A A= AAE
EAE A E:A 7 E
E d TA 7 B AA
A EBE:A E EA EAA
AEC EA :A TE E_
242 al-Ra, Nahj al-balgha, 92, #27; also in al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn; alDnawar, al-Akhbr al-iwl; al-Baldhur, Ansb al-ashrf; al-Mubarrad, al-Kmil;
Ibn Qutayba, Uyn al-akhbr.
238
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
A :" C|
AC E ?B BA
~ 8A ?A AA EBEB 7 ".EA
BA E=C A BA AC
B: BA
.B EAC A EC Ea=
8. Ziyd b. Abhi
(Umayyad governor of Iraq, d. 53/673)243
Type
Features
243 afwat 1933 2:270-4, #259; after al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn, 2:62-5; alabar, Tarkh, 5:220-1; al-Qalqashand, ub al-ash, 1:216-7; al-Ql, Dhayl alAml, 3:185-6; Ibn al-Athr, al-Kmil; Ibn Qutayba, Uyn al-akhbr; Ibn Abd
Rabbih, al-Iqd al-fard; al-Masd, Murj al-dhahab; Ibn Ab al-add, Shar Nahj
al-balgha.
244 al-abar, Tarkh, 5:222.
KHUBA
239
duction;245 direct address; Qurnic allusions; emphatic structures; oaths; idioms; weapon imagery; parallelism; rhetorical
questions; some saj; short sentences; repetition of key vocabulary; antithesis; imperatives.
Indeed, the most ignorant ignorance, the most
blind straying, the transgression that will certainly lead its people to Hellfire, is that in
which the fools among you are [entrenched],
and that which the mature among you subscribe
to. [These are] grave matters, the young grow
up in them, and the old do not avoid them. It is
as though you have never read the Book of
God, have never heard about what God has prepared, of generous reward for the people who
obey Him, and of painful punishment for the
people who disobey Him, in time eternal which
will never cease. Will you be like the one
whose eyes were made too watery by this
world to see? Whose ears were blocked by desires? Who chose the transient [abode] over the
everlasting one? You do not bear in mind that
you have done something new and impure in
Islam, something unprecedented. For you have
let the weak man be subjugated, his property
: AEA _ AEz Az D
BAB : CE ACE}
C AC BAB CEA
i AA EC: BBEA
:A EBAE Y 7 A EBA Y _
AC 7
CAE: A: U
EA EA .
U AE
CE EC AE Y AA{
AECA} BAB A
CE} U } }
A s ? Y Bi B
A E: . A
AE B Ci E= TEAA
8A E ` C}
EA AECA ECA
EA_ { .A
C EA
245 According to some reports, Ziyd did praise God at the beginning of the oration, and thus the khuba was not batr at all (ibid.)
240
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
A A AAB EA
B :A ?AA .A= CA U EB
EA A=A
.E
A n BE AC B
Ci U ?DC E Ci U ?EC
AEC} E} } C A}
KHUBA
241
U A
fences of] the slave, the resident for [the offences of] the one who has fled, the one who
comes forward for [the offences of] the one
who runs away, the one who obeys for [the offences of] the one who disobeys, the sound of
soul among you for [the offences of] the dis-
B B" B: A
: .A [ B " AA
: _A D BA Cb} AC
.g E_A @AC
: :C C h y
AA AC ?C AC EA
.
has lost.
246 Sad and Sad were the sons of abba b. Udd who left home in search of
their fathers camels. Sad found them and brought them back, but Sad was killed
(cf. afwat 1933 2:272, n. 2). Cf. etiology of this proverb in Ibn Manr, Lisn alarab, s--d.
247 Presumably because such a horse visibly stands out.
242
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
CEB AA AD
n U : AA BA
AEA AD . Bb|
o AA A B Dz
E Y AC BE
E : A B aC
A EA AAE E AE AA A:
<A :A b AA EA E
E AC AC D E` .
@ EA
BEA : CC AE
.BB
248
249
KHUBA
243
AEA B ?A j h
CEB A .:A Aq
EEA ECB EA EAEA
AA : BECA .CA
EC Y AC E Y CB C `C
A ACEB C
C A C .EC Y
AA EAE B 8
7 B >A
A :A 7 BE
EA BE:
EA EA BEE .AECA
. CAAAB
244
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
A= E BE: AEA
@ EB BE
>A E
BE .EA =AB C:
B=A} AA _ C:C : 7
EBEA EB E
:EA B AE BE EBE
EE EB E A E C
AEE _ A
AECB E 7 E . DA A
.^
BEC A C
i AEA [ : 7 BEA .C
KHUBA
245
EC A E E ` EEA
.AEA
9. Zaynab bt. Al
(Muammads granddaughter, Al and Fimas daughter,
d. 62/682)250
Type
Features
religio-political khuba; addressed overtly to Yazd, but simultaneously to all people present in his court; denouncing him and
his killing of her brother al-usayn at Karbala, and his humiliating and cruel treatment of the women of the Prophets family;
together with no. 6, one of the few womens khubas in early Islam.
direct address; many Qurnic citations; synonymous parallelism; idiomatic phraseology; short sentences; rhetorical questions; tamd closure.
A :" EA 7 AA
7 C EB_ E AE8 BA
Aj _ AEA "EBEEA o
C C C
A : AA AB A E
: A 7 AA
U AE C AAA A C
E` A Aj A EC
. C_B AEB
C EEB
250 afwat, 1933 2:136-138, #124; after ayfr, Balght al-nis, Cairo
Hindw ed., pp. 70-73, #3. Also in al-abars, al-Itijj, ed. Muammad Bqir
Khursn, Najaf: Dr al-Numn, 1966, 2:34.
251 Qurn, 30:10.
246
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
A BEC C` AE AC
AA 7 CAA AEA A
@CB :BEA AAE :BAEB
o EBEA CA Do EC
::AA AEAEB AEB Z @
~ 9[ B
E: EA C U EEB
. A E:
Ibid., 3:178.
Derogatory term, referring to those of the Quraysh who remained committed
enemies of Islam until forced to capitulate upon the Muslims conquest of Mecca.
On that day, they would have been forced into captivity according to their standard
warfare practices, but Muammad pardoned them and granted them their freedom
thus, freedmen. Cf. Muammads khuba to the Meccans on the day of the conquest, in which he says to them You are free[d] men (Appendix, text #4c).
KHUBA
247
a Ai "EBA AE AE"
7 C AA BE CB
A EC AAn
A C : AAE AE
7 C:=
AEA C 7 :A .}
the stars of the earth from the line of Abd alMualib! You shall come before God soon, as
they have. And you will wish that you had been
blind and dumb [earlier], that you had not said
Praise God and shine forth in joy!255
O God, give you us our right[s], and exact
vengeance for us from those who oppressed us.
By God, you [O Yazd] have pared naught but
your own skin. You have incised naught but
7 .A ECA al B :B
CE U A A AEA
e CA 7 BA
7 A i U AE
254 At the Battle of Badr, on Muammads side, amza and Al had killed
Yazds forefathers, Utba b. Raba, Wald b. Utba, and Shayba b. Raba (prominent
members of the opposing pagan Meccan side) in a duel; Yazd recited the verses
cited here indicating that he has taken blood vengeance, by killing al-usayn, the
grandson of Muammad and the son of Al, and his entire family.
255 Part of the verses that Yazd had recited, addressing his pagan forefathers
who had been killed opposing the Muslims during the Battle of Badr.
248
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
your own flesh. You will come before the Messenger of God despite your [wishing the contrary]. His offspring and his family will be with
him in the garden of Paradise, on the day that
God brings them together, gathered after being
scattered. That is the word of God Almighty,
Do not think those who have been killed in the
" Z 7 A: j
7 U cq
:A EA BEAAA ".EEB o A ?
7 A{ j} C A_A
?C AAA ? AE|
B 9A 8 "AA j} A"
".EB
Qurn 3:169.
Ibid., 18:50.
Ibid., 19:75.
BC =B A 7 :B 7 AA
AB : Ai A BE AE
EA :A A EA
B Bj{ hB
7 EEBC Z B=B
BBCE E .7 AA CAC
KHUBA
249
ACEB B CAC
259B
BEA ECA: Bz
.A
Aj AA : AA
A: @ A }
BE_ 7 .
AE EC .7 Z A 7
7 AEB EC AEA
. A A 261BAEA
259 I am not certain of the vocalization of the word ; Lane states that assl
means wolf, but he gives its plural as ussal and awsil. The plural of asal (meaning
honey) is usln, which could also be the vocalization for our word.
260 I.e. when actions are weighed on the Day of Judgment.
261 The text edition contains which means to permit, which does not give
us any clear meaning here; it is clearly a typographical error, with the dot of the d
shifted to the . On the other hand, the word to wash away works well with
shame, the two forming an idiom.
250
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
} AA 7 B{
.z ~ A z :B CAAC
A ~ A E 7 E
.? 9[ A} ~
Features
O people! Where will you flee? The sea is behind you, and the enemy in front. There is
262
263
7 BA 8
I.e. death.
Meaning al-asan and al-usayn, referring to the prophetic Hadith in this
vein: Al-asan and al-usayn are the chiefs of the youth of paradise. Cf. al-Q
al-Numn, Shar al-akhbr, 3:76; al-Baldhur, Ansb al-ashrf, 2:368.
264 afwat 1933 2:314-5, #302; after al-Maqqar, Naf al-b; Ibn Khallikn,
Wafayt al-ayn.
KHUBA
251
BA z U .b
.a C U E
ACE k 8
AA ?
A
B E:E .
E E Y
EB B C:A B
AC . AEz
CAABn C
: { A E
y ?CEB C
EaA Y .}
=A Tb
.> a CE
E A .
252
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
CAA EC AC{ E{ Bz
{ } A8 U C
U C} C C}
. }
Bi } C B
C} ACA EB j}
C Cz
A ` AAC E
o C C 7
C E C BAA A z
8CA Z 7 .AC j}
.A: U C C
Z :
CA EAEA B
.7 C E C
KHUBA
253
A B E Cw
A CE A EB A
E [ B E
Cw g U
Cz :} E
.
B A
Features
AA_ B:A A BE
265 afwat 1933 2:288-91, #276; after al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn; alMubarrad, al-Kmil; al-abar, Tarkh; al-Qalqashand, ub al-ash; Ibn Qutayba,
Uyn al-akhbr; al-Masd, Murj al-dhahab; al-Abbs, Mahid al-tan; Ibn
al-Athr, al-Kmil; Ibn Nubta, Sar al-Uyn; Ibn Askir, Tarkh. In another
khuba delivered three days later, al-Hajjj addressed his audience again as people
of dissension and hypocrisy, afwat 1933 2:291-2, #277.
266 Connotes an able man and experienced manager.
254
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
EE AAC A
me.267
O people of Kufa. Indeed, by God, I contain
evil by its [own] scabbard. I shoe it with its
[own] shoe. I reward it with its like. Indeed, I
see ambitious eyes, long necks, and heads that
have ripened, the time for whose plucking has
arrived. I am the person for it. I am like to see
:: CE a 7 A
CAA j C= Z B BC
.[] .AA AC
C= 7
[ BEB AA =
BEAA p BEa BE
j} Ai D .E Z
C U EE A AA
267
.D
255
KHUBA
A:
AEA
:CE
- . A :
@ E"
AAC 7 A 7 B EA a
7 ".EBAEA n CE| Ez
BEE 8B BEA BC
AA8 AA .BEA BE
BA aC :AA E ={
ing it out. I do not intend [a thing] without following it through. I do not measure without
cutting. So beware of me, and beware of these
intercessors and groups and assemblies, of
speaking this and that, of What do you say?
and Where do you [stand] in that? Indeed, by
268
269
AE}
.CAA U >B
256
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
CACE CE ECAA j} Ai D
>BA B 7 B B
B A C CA CE A A_r
.EA BEAA BEA AA
excerpt from a sermon of pious counsel, urging zuhd and reflection on death
direct address; refrain O son of Adam!; prescriptive; many
rhetorical questions, oaths, and exclamations; simple, repetetive
syntax and vocabulary; syntactical and antithetical parallelism.
O son of Adam: sell this world of yours in return for the hereafter and you will profit in
both. Do not sell your hereafter for this world,
or you will lose both. O son of Adam: if you
see people doing good, compete with them for
it. If you see them doing evil, do not envy them
v EAE CAC AB E AE
A .v EA A E
ECA i| U A A
B_ . =: U
BC : B
m E C: BC
270 afwat 1933 2:485-7, #459; after al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn; Ibn Qutayba, Uyn al-akhbr; Ibn Ab al-add, Shar Nahj al-balgha.
KHUBA
257
AAEA E E }
E A A .A ECA CAE U AC
: 7 _ A >AA EA
A = A : C: A
EB A EEB
A EA .BC AA E C: BEB _
A EA Y > B >
AAA ?A CB AA AA A
AA A AAA .
AE = EC =A
EE _ AC
..
258
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
273 A C A
EB EA U Y E Bb
>BA 7 ACA .= A AA EB
272
273
259
KHUBA
Features
A ECA }
C C_C A CE g
.AA BEAE
B 7 D .AEA
E : A
A 7 BEB 7
j} A_A : 7
.C ACAA
274 afwat 1933 2:469-76, #449; after Ab al-Faraj, al-Aghn; Ibn Ab al-add,
Shar Nahj al-balgha; al-Ji, al-Bayn wa-l-tabyn; Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd alfard.
260
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
_A AEB U E EC EAA Y
B_ j AB A } _A A
D8 CA .C A 7
7 U A:A :=
7 w EA : 7 A
.
CAEC AA | BE B ACA
A:A CA
AA A:A
U A v
KHUBA
261
:C AA BE B ACA
EAC Ci j
AE n CA == U
={ AC EA BE 8 ACA
. A AA E Y E
?:CA ? C BE
{ A: AA . ?_AB
A AA 7 AAC _
.7 BAA BEBA .
275 Refers to the tarw prayed introduced by Umar, which is prayed by Sunni
Muslims nightly in Raman after the ish prayer communally, led by an Imm.
276 Reference to the coalition of Arab tribes lead by Muwiyas father against
Muammad and the Muslims in the year 5/627; the ensuing battle is known as the
Battle of the Confederates (al-Azb) and also as the Battle of the Trench (alKhandaq), after the trench dug by the Muslims around Medina to stop enemy forces
from entering it.
262
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
B BB| B . BE ACA
B EB8 B EB B E8
.E U B} CA U B EB
EC AA : AA_ A
BAA A EEA n CA
.A A 7
took the monkey as a boon-companion, and followed his pleasures, until he died doing that.
May God curse him, and do countless [bad
things] to him!
Then Marwn b. al-akam [became caliph], a
repudiated man, a man cursed by the Messenger of God (Gods blessings upon him!), son of
7 Bj ? { BE B ACA
BEBA . U ? B
. EBA
C A AA
? 7 BA
j }
E 7 C EBC 7
KHUBA
263
the Emigrants or Helpers, nor from the successors in the good. They devoured the property
of God, and played games with the religion of
God (3 pages on the Umayyads omitted).
As for our brothers, these Shathey are not
our brothers in religion! But I heard God Almighty say in His Book, O people, we have
created you peoples and tribes such that you get
to know one another. They are a sect which
pretends to follow the Book of God, but manifests falsehood against God (one page omitted) they have charged the people of an Arab
house with their religion, and they think that
:
U 7 By h U
_ "
EC "
7 EC CAE 7 EAA
AEC @ _
~ B :
. C E {
.CEB _ 7
= EB_ } CAC 8
.EB CA
h
AEA .B ? ?
7 B }
AA A| U }
264
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
God (Gods blessings upon him and his progeny!)people mentioned in the [Hadith]
other than youths of tender age? [My companions] are youths who have attained the maturity of the old in their youth, their eyes are
averted from evil, their feet are heavy [and hold
o U AEB 7 ?
B BE BB
s EBA AA B
C C s
AE 7 w
.z A
14. Wil b. A
(Mutazilite leader, d. 131/748)277
Type
Features
Praise be to God! Timeless without [beginning], eternal without end. Elevated in His
7 B{
277 afwat 1933 2:501-3, #475; after Amad Mift, Mift al-afkr. Cf. also
text and translation of another of his sermons in Wil, Wil ibn A als Prediger
und Theologe, 21-37.
KHUBA
265
AA A Y A C
AaAB .: _A
` AA . A EBC
_ AC .B ` _
:A C BBEA
7 A E B . B
C A:A a C A
q . a
AEB EA AEB
266
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
7 7 A
`B .} C6
.A} U @ B 7
A CAB B{ :A
} B:
A CAA AA }
8A :{
.a A z
_A C AA CCEAn
A E8
8C } p
7 : .E ~
[ 7 " C D
D 7 AA ".
aAC AEA n
KHUBA
267
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TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
KHUBA
Internet Sources
Alwaraq (literary, historical, and other primary Arabic sources):
http://www.alwaraq.net
adth:
http://hadith.al-islam.com
Oxford English Dictionary:
http://dictionary.oed.com/
Qurn:
http://www.altafsir.com/tafseerquran.asp
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